materials. these materials were purchased from the same vendors as the official campaign materials and were often delivered to the official campaign headquarters. >> reporter: how could candidate gray not know? mayor gray did not respond to a 9news now request for an interview. >> it just didn't start in 2010. >> reporter: they says the scheme goes back to 2001 and involved illegal help for campaigns for federal office as well. he won't say which ones but "the washington post" has learned that harris made conts contributions to albert wynn, eleanor holmes norton, barack obama, and hillary clinton. none is charged with knowing about the illegal help. >> it involved a plan to send miss harris to brazil for over five years which is the statute of limitations on many federal offenses. >> reporter: city council chairman phil mendelson tuesday night. >> today's events are very troubling and it speaks to a

corruption in elections that's far beyond what everybody realized. i think it's safe to say the candidates who received the donations did not realize they were coming from straw donors. and it's going to take time to rebuild that trust. >> reporter: safe to say they didn't realize it was coming from straw donors, there's $650,000 in subterranean donations in the mayoral campaign. how could the candidate not know? >> i can't speculate on that. i don't understand some of this and we're all learning this together. but your question was about whether we -- how can we guarantee that elections are not corrupt. i think it requires constant vigilance. the bottom line is there's not an easy answer. >> reporter: do you expect mayor gray is going to be indicted? >> no, but -- what good is it for me to speculate? >> reporter: the big question remains $650,000 in a shadow

campaign, how could candidate gray not know? it is important to point out that mayor gray has been charged with no wrongdoing at all. gary nurenberg, 9news now. on capitol hill today, the house is expected to vote on the repeal of the affordable care act. president obama's health care reform law. this will be the 31st time congress has voted to repeal, defund or dismantle the same legislation. while the repeal is expected to pass the house, it has little chance of passing the senate. even if it does, president obama has promised to veto the bill. the president will host democratic congressional leaders today to push his tax cut plan. harry reid and nancy pelosi are among those expected to attend. mr. obama is calling for congress to extend the bush era tax cuts for everyone making less than $250,000 a year. but he has some work to do to get all of the democratic members of congress on board with his plan. pelosi is on record wanting to extend the limit to all of

those making $1 million a year or less. the fauquier county sheriff's office says the death of a winchester star reporter is now being investigated as a homicide. 48-year-old sarah greenhall's upper hill home was on fire monday when emergency crews got the call. her body was found inside. she was well known for her reporting on equestrian events. deputies are waiting for results of an autopsy to determine the cause of her death. a massachusetts man linked to a terror plot here in washington plans to plead guilty in the case. according to court documents, he has agreed to plea -- with a plea deal with prosecutors. they say he plotted to fly remote controlled model planes packed with explosives into the pentagon and the capitol. he was arrested in september. investigators say the public was never in any danger. he is expected to receive a 17- year sentence. it is 4:33. here's a look at some other things making news now.

the most destructive wildfire in colorado history is now fully contained. the 29 square mile waldo canyon fire killed to people and destroyed nearly 350 houses. the cause of the fire remains under investigation. as many as 32,000 people were evacuated since the fire began nearly three weeks ago. joe paterno's family is defending his reputation. they issued a statement saying the former penn state football coach never did anything to cover up convicted child molester jerry sandusky. paterno was fired in connection with that scandal and died of lung cancer a short time later. louie freeh is investigating. ai'm going to lose this arm or i'm going to die. >> reporter: 17-year-old fred made a horrifying decision monday in order to save his life. he came face to face with an 11-

foot long alligator while swimming in a river east of fort myers, florida. >> i was about 30 yards away from the bank. my friend starts yelling gator. >> it was coming after him on top of the water as fast as he could. >> reporter: the teen tried to keep the gator from biting him by holding up his head and:wrapping his legs around it. >> he had done a death roll and knocked me off. i took my feet and kicked trying to gain speed going to the bank. when i was swimming throwing my arms back and forth, he got this one. he done another death roll and broke all the bones. i just felt it's gone. >> reporter: fresh pushed against the reptile to get free and was able to swim to shore. the gator bit off his right arm just below his elbow. >> he said my arm's gone. he was freaked out obviously. >> reporter: alligators are a familiar sight in the river for fred and his friends. >> for some strange reason, this one wanted to charge. i don't know why. >> reporter: his friends say the attack won't keep them out

of the water. >> especially not fred. he will be the first person back in. >> reporter: wildlife officers found the gator after a three- hour search. they killed it and recovered fred's arm but surgeons were unable to attach it. >> they say the alligator attacks are rare. since 1942, 224 people in florida have suffered some major bites. 22 of them have died. it's 4:36. another cooler day for our region. howard will have more on a possible warming trend at 4:48. prince george's county police unveil a new high-tech tool to help officers deal with armed suspects. at 4:50, a childhood disease is making a return. federal health officials have issued a warning to the most at risk groups: pregnant women and babies. keep it here. your weather first in two minutes.

we have a comfortable morning out there. mostly cloudy skies. temperatures in the 60s and 70s. we'll have a mix of sun and clouds today. we'll northbound the 80s pet quickly and -- we'll be in the 80s pretty quickly and top out in the upper 80s. i'm already looking ahead to the weekend. i'll have that forecast for you in a few. right now monika is in with time saver traffic. beach drive is closed between broad branch and joyce. on georgia avenue, you want to watch out for a disabled vehicle in the roadway. i'll have more traffic coming up in my next report at 4:47. back to you. 4:39. time for the first your money segment of the morning. >> jessica doyle, how are you? glism' doing great. how-- >> i'm doing great. how are you doing? it's wednesday, halfway through the workweek. at least we are. people at home maybe not so much but we're going to get there today. wall street is hoping they're

going to reverse the recent trend stocks that slipped for the fourth day in a row yesterday. the latest problems, disappointing profits in the technology sector and a sharp drop in oil prices. checking the numbers, the dow stands this morning at 12,653 after dropping 83 points in trade yesterday. the nasdaq was off by 29 and the s&p 500 was down by 11. concerns over a multibillion dollar spanish bailout pushed the euro to a new two-year low against the dollar. the leaders backed the $123 billion bank bailout tuesday. they vowed to deliver the first payment of more than $36 billion by the end of the month. a new report on wholesale inventories will be released later this morning. the report is unlikely to have an immediate impact on wall street but the numbers do give insight into consumer demands and the overall economy. in the meantime comcax, nbc -- comcast and nbc universal is unloading its stake. comcast will sell its more than

15% stake in the cable network to current partners walt disney. >> interesting. if you are flying out of reagan thangs this weekend, you're probably -- national this weekend, you're probably going to need extra time in your schedule. >> we'll have some things you need to know about weekend work near national airport. howard bernstein right after this.

good morning. welcome back to 9news now. 4:43 this morning. it is special because it's howard's birthday. >> stop. >> it's howard's birthday. >> happy birthday. >> stop tomorrow. >> stop tomorrow. >> we have a good day going. happy wednesday to you. weather wise it's comfortable. some folks could even open a window and enjoy that. 60s in many areas with low 70s

in town after tremendous rains right over d.c., parts of fairfax and montgomery and prince george's that storm from 7:00 to 9:30 just sat there. let's get you going with a look at the day planner this wednesday morning, july 11, my birthday as they have alluded to. 77 degrees here at 8:00. by noon we'll be in the mid- 80s. a mix of sun and clouds out there today. there's a slim chance we'll see a stray storm this afternoon. yesterday we didn't have many storms. it just happened to be over a densely populated area. highs in the upper 80s to near 90 and 84 still at 8:00. winds generally east at 5 to 10 miles an hour. here's a look at the doppler radar. again virginia beach, norfolk, over toward raleigh and roanoke seeing a few showers. a quiet morning here in washington and off to the south, nothing happening now. temps running in the 60s. in fact very comfortable 66 in cumberland and luray this morning. it's 68 at the tappahannock

airport. 74 at the patuxent river naval air station. here in d.c. this morning we're sitting in the 70s. can't see it but just partly cloudy skies out there. traffic flowing nicely on wisconsin avenue at this hour. it is 4:45 in the morning. it should be. 74 degrees. still rather muggy with the humidity at 85% and a northeasterly wind 6 miles an hour. not too hot but we are looking at high heat in the valleys of california and in the southwest. in fact, the whole west. you get west of the rockies, lower 100s toward idaho, reno, salt lake city in the low 100s. but the rest of the country generally seeing normal -- i know, it's weird. normal july heat. we're seeing showers and storms concentrated across the south. lots of activity. scattered in texas. austin, texas picked up 10 inches of rain in a few hours in the heavy thunderstorms just the other day. the scattered thunderstorms across the deep south, the tennessee valley into the

carolinas, look at all the rain that's been falling down there. we're just to the north of this big area of rainfall and we're going to see the main rains stay off to our south. for us isolated shower or storm but really going to be in pennsylvania, the mountains i think a better chance today than around here as temperatures make a run into the upper 80s, close to 90. looking at the forecast the next three days, 89 today, stray thunderstorm. i think rain chances 20%, 30%. tonight we're dipping back into the 70s. some upper 60s in the suburbs. tomorrow 89. a dry day but 90 on friday, chance for an afternoon storm. then temperatures are creeping upwards. over the weekend low to mid-90s even by sunday with scattered afternoon storms. then mid-90s monday and tuesday. chance of storms on monday. 4:46. monika samtani, good morning. good morning. happy birthday, howard. >> thanks again. >> we're going to say that all morning long every single

report. happy birthday, howard. things aren't too bad considering we had the storms come through. the rock creek parkway is closed between broad branch and joyce street. on the southbound side of i-270 you should be fine. coming in from gaithersburg to rockville, bethesda, the inner loop near connecticut avenue, there had been construction along the right side that should be cleared shortly. let's take a live look outside if you're planning to head over here on the beltway near university boulevard. this is the outer loop and it looks fine coming from the 95 interchange. back over to the maps this time to southern maryland with we're fine all o all of your major thoroughfares into oxon hill. no issues to report. a live look again outside where springfield is looking good northbound 95 as you head to 395 and the 14th street bridge. your lanes are open. i'll be back in a few minutes with more traffic at 4:55 but first a heads up if you plan on using metro this weekend. the transit agency is closing the reagan national airport at crystal city stations friday at 10:00 p.m. and they'll remain closed till the system reopens on monday morning. shuttle buses will be provided between the braddock road and

pentagon city stations but if you are going to the airport, you may want to make alternate plans. back to you guys. >> thank you for that heads up, monika. within the last week there have been three police-involved shootings here in the d.c. area. one in fairfax, one in montgomery and one in prince george's counties, all three were fatal. >> now prince george's county police are showing off new equipment to help them deal with armed suspects. matt jablow has more. >> reporter: the sound of gunfire echoes inside the training building in the prince george's county police department. >> drop the weapon. drop the weapon. >> reporter: where department leaders are touting what they describe as one of the most important pieces of technology they'd ever acquired. >> the interaction is much better than our old system. >> reporter: it's called the milo use of force simulator, a state of the art interactive scenario based software system the prince george's county police started using just a few

weeks ago to train officers when to fire their weapons and when not to. >> come on out now. put the gun down. >> it's amazing. >> reporter: the commander says the new system came at the perfect time. police officers now are confronted with more armed suspects than ever before and therefore must have a better understanding than ever about how to deal with those situations. >> what we really want to get from this is officers to use communication skills to be able to deescalate some situations. >> reporter: today's demonstration was intended to give reporters a firsthand view of the system and of the split- second decisions that officers routinely are forced to make. >> this system allows us to reverse the camera and show exactly how the officers move to cover, how they fired, what they did and it's an eye opener for the officer going through the scenario. >> reporter: in my scenario police are called to the scene of a shooting in a parking lot. when the armed suspect refused

my command to drop his assault rifle, i fired six shots, two of which somehow hit their target. >> we're all amazed at how this system is so realistic. >> that was matt jablow reporting there. that system cost $85,000. it was paid for by a grant from the department of homeland security. in health news, pertussis better known as whooping cough is on pace to have a record setting year. the centers for disease control says more than 16,000 cases were reported as of june 30. that's more than double the reported cases from the same time last year. the current record year in the u.s. was 2010 with more than 27,000 pertussis cases. the cdc is encouraging everyone to make sure their pertussis vaccinations are up to date. it's part of around immunization called dtap. whooping cough is contagious and can cause death in the worst-case scenarios especially among babies. there have been several

regional outbreaks across the country. the closest in our region was in southwestern virginia. pregnant women who got the h1n1 flu vaccine in the 2009 pandemic can rest easy. a new study of babies born to those women found no increased risk of birth defects, preterm births or smaller birth size. moderate drinking may reduce the risk of rheumatoid arthritis. a new study in the british medical journal finds women who regularly consumed more than three alcoholic drinks per week for at least a decade ten years have half the risk of developing chronic inflammatory condition. rheumatoid arthritis is an auto immune disease and they think alcohol lowers the body's -- [

inaudible ] medical experts say health benefits of quitting smoking far outweight modest weight gain. a university of georgia professor thinking he knows why america's children are gaining white. he investigated gym programs in every state and says kids aren't getting enough physical education at school. he says that kids are not receiving the 150 to 225 minutes per week of exercise many experts recommend. the main reason? many school systems are reducing p.e. time in favor of more class time. the cry for help went out and the response was overwhelming. our daily bread is a group in fairfax, virginia which hopes low-income families. it recently sent out and s.o.s. asking for help for struggling families who lost food, having it spoiled when the power went out recently. nearly $5,000 in emergency donations poured in. >> this community despite all the issues that we face, no power, not being able to get

out of your house sometimes, that they would take the time to take care of one of their neighbors in need in addition to dealing with their issues, it just makes my heart sing. >> if you'd like to make a donation yourself, you can visit our daily bread's website. it's odbfairfax.org. 4:53. time for the question of the morning. here it is. a recent survey suggests when women want to feel better, they eat this. is it a ice cream, b, our 5:00 a.m. producer heather's double chocolate brownie or c, cheese? we'll reveal the answer during the 6:00 hour.

welcome back. just about 4:56 on this wednesday morning. 60s and 70s out there. quiet right now as opposed to yesterday evening when some were dealing with torrential rains. we are dealing with a mix of sun and clouds. it will be another warm day. highs upper 80s to near 90 with a slim chance of an afternoon storm. let's go to monika samtani who will give us the time saver traffic update. on the northbound side of i- 95 near the fairfax county parkway, an accident has been cleared. left this for you at 4:56 in the morning but at least the lanes are open. i'll have more traffic coming up in just a couple of minutes. whole foods is coming to prince george's county. the council voted 7-2 in favor of a plan to build the market in riverdale park. it would be part of a mixed use development but the vote is expected to face a court challenge. opponents say the proposal violates the county's master plan and will lead to huge traffic jams along route 1. chinatown will soon be a little brighter.

the d.c. council unanimously approved legislation to allow more animated signs on the exterior of the verizon center. the wizards owner says the new signs will improve the arena's aesthetics and increase tax revenue for the city. rooftop missile defense will be part of the 2012 summer olympics in london. the military has the legal right to install them on rooftops across the city according to a judge who wriewld on the case. -- ruled on the case. london security forces are going to start installing them within the next few days. some residents are angry that their apartment buildings will be used as missile sites. >> it's a clear indication of today's judgment that the minister of defense now has the power to militarize the private homes of any person in britain. >> fighter jets, naval ships and more than 20,000 soldiers and guards will also keep the

games safe. surface-to-air missiles were also used during the 2008 gapes in beijing. one -- games in beijing. a personal tragedy turned into a dream of the olympics. >> reporter: in colorado springs, america's shooting star sarah shera practices for hours on the gun range. the 21-year-old is aiming for the gold medal in the women's 10 meter air rifle competition at the summer olympics in london. you are ten meters away aiming at what? >> black circle dust like this. >> reporter: the center of that circle is about the size of a pin head and she has to hit it 40 times. can do you it? >> i can. i have before. i know i can. >> reporter: sarah started shooting competitively when she was 9. it's in her blood. she claims she's a descendant of daniel boone.

she isn't the first member of her family to make the olympic team. her brother steven competed in beijing in 2008. he's become an inspiration for her. steven was on the men's shooting team. >> we grew up shooting together. we coached each other. >> reporter: then two years ago steven turned the gun on himself taking his own life. sarah turned her grief into motivation. >> he knew my potential from the very beginning and he always was pushing me. you can do this. he also knew that i could shoot perfect scores. >> reporter: now she hopes to bring hope the gold for herself, her brother, her family, and her country. drew levinson, cbs news, colorado springs. >> we wish her the best. good morning. thank you for watching 9news now at 5:00 a.m. i'm andrea roane. i'm mike hydeck. thank thanks a lot for joining us. it's wednesday. we've halfway there. it's also -- we're halfway there. it's also howard's birthday. well, birgtd day boy --